1. Money lent at exorbitant interest rates, especially in Ireland; usury.
Usage: Irish English; historical
2. Profit or gain obtained through sharp or dishonest dealing.
Usage: Irish English; informal

Examples

• The landlord charged gombeen rates to desperate tenants who had no other options.
• He made his fortune through gombeen, lending money at ruinous interest to poor farmers.
• The moneylender's gombeen practices left many families in debt for generations.
• She accused him of making gombeen off the backs of working people.
• Gombeen was a common form of exploitation in rural Ireland during the 19th century.